A great variety of information is retrievable from the internet by any user. The retrievable information made available by different providers is filed in the form of electronic data sets which are stored in so-called servers of the providers or other offerers of services. The user may retrieve information stored, via a user computer, making use of the services offered by a provider to obtain access to the internet. The user computer is furnished with a browser to permit handling of the information retrieved.
Most of the information stored in provider servers of the internet can be fetched by the user without pay. However, the internet also offers information for which the user must pay, i.e. the user must pay a fee for retrieving such information. A substantial problem to be solved in this context is the precise accounting of the compulsory fee in correspondence with the amount of information.
In the case of a known method for retrieval of information from the internet with cost the user, wishing to access such information with cost, is warned on an announcement page which is displayed by means of the browser in the user computer that a fee becomes due for retrieval of the desired information. For subsequent access to the information with cost, the user first must interrupt the existing data transmission circuit between the user computer and the service means of the provider. This means that the data connection with the user's provider is disconnected. Subsequent dialing of a new telephone number will close a new data transmission circuit between the user computer and another provider. The user was advised of this telephone number on the announcement page which informed him about the obligation to pay a fee. Thereafter, the user may retrieve the information with cost from the internet via the newly dialed data line.
It is a disadvantage of the known method that the dialing, both to clear and to set up a data line, entails time consuming dialing procedures. If the user wishes to switch back and forth between retrieval of information free of charge and information with cost this means that multiple dialing procedures are required.